Around the NBA: Finding minutes for rookies

Saturday

Pursuing a championship and finding minutes for rookies at the same time is a tough task for any NBA head coach.

Pursuing a championship and finding minutes for rookies at the same time is a tough task for any NBA head coach.

Cleveland’s Mike Brown is doing his best to make sure rookie forwards J.J. Hickson and Darnell Jackson don’t accumulate too much rust early in the season.

“I need to give J.J. and D.J. playing time,” Brown said.

With Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao getting the bulk of the frontcourt minutes, Brown doesn’t have minutes to just give away. But he’s also seen enough from his two young bigs to know they deserve some time.

Hickson, a first-round pick, has been in the rotation much of the season. An explosive leaper out of North Carolina State, he already is becoming a fan favorite with his dunks and blocked shots. He had several big-time swats of Oklahoma City shots and scored a career-high 14 points.

“He had some good blocks, some good finishes and some patience with his moves,” Brown said. “But then, there were times where he made the right play initially, but he didn’t play with maximum effort throughout the whole 24-second clock. There are just some more things that J.J. has to continue to learn.”

“That’s the good thing about this team,” James said. “He has veterans in front of him -- Andy and Z and Ben -- that can help him get through some of the mistakes that he may make. He’s been playing particularly well, and he’s going to continue to do that.”

James, sounding like a coach, said Hickson needs to put his focus on defense first.

“He has to stay focused to play on this team,” James said.

Brown expects mistakes from the rookies, and he knows his job is to remain patient and teach.

“Take a deep breath and practice my Buddhism like the great ones do,” Brown said jokingly. “The more I can try to keep him on the floor, the better he’ll get. He’ll have a chance to be pretty good if I can keep him out on the floor.”

Jackson coming along, too

Jackson, a second-rounder out of Kansas, has gotten a chance to play this past week after being inactive to start the season as he recovered from a broken wrist.

“He’s practiced well enough to where I need to take a look at him,” Brown said.

Jackson grabbed five rebounds against the Thunder and has shown a good mid-range jumper.

“Darnell’s a worker, and he has an offensive skill,” Brown said, referring to Jackson’s jumper. “And you can tell he’s been coached very, very well (in college).”

More NYC talk?

It will be interesting to see if the Knicks’ visit to Cleveland this week restarts the James to New York talk for a third straight week. Last week ended with Charles Barkley criticizing James for not handling things differently and shutting up about it. James called Barkley “stupid.”

On TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” Barkley also disputed the belief of some that James needs to play in New York to become a bigger star.

“No he won’t,” Barkley said. “He won’t be bigger. He’s as big as he is right now.”

Exploring options

Kevin Durant dominated college basketball in his one season at Texas as a forward. He earned Rookie of the Year honors in the NBA playing primarily as a off guard. This past week, Oklahoma City interim Head Coach Scott Brooks moved Durant to small forward.

“We’re just evaluating as the season goes on,” said Brooks, who wants to focus on “getting good shots” for Durant. “He’s a smart player, and he’s going to figure out along with myself what are the best spots on the floor with him.”

Durant, generously listed at 215 pounds, is rail thin at 6-foot-9. He looked physically overmatched as a defender against the Cavs last week, with Cleveland even running some things through Ben Wallace when Durant guarded him. But as Durant matures, Brooks likes the potential of him and fellow second-year forward Jeff Green.

“It’s a great combination that we do have,” Brooks said. “They can cause matchup problems on both ends of the floor.”

24-second clock

- Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas feasted on the Warriors and Thunder, showing that a low-post presence shouldn’t be ignored with so many teams going small. He hit 16-of-22 shots to score 38 points in just 33 minutes, with Cavs winning each game by wide margins.

“There’s not too many guys that can guard Z one-on-one,” James said. “He has so much down there in the post.”

- It was not a good week for the Pistons. It began last Sunday with an inexplicable 26-point home loss to the Timberwolves. Minnesota hadn’t won a road game this season. It bottomed out on Thanksgiving with Allen Iverson skipping a morning practice that was not popular with the team. The Pistons did regroup to beat the Bucks on Friday with Iverson coming off the bench.

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